German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble today told CNBC that the fate of Europe's common currency hangs in the balance of this weekend's French elections:
I think the French people will take a reasonable decision. That means a decision that allows so the euro can survive.French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has said that France leaving the euro would be non-negotiable were she to win, although she may be open to France remaining in the European Union.
A satellite image of Hurricane Zeta. Photo: National Hurricane Center/NOAA
Hurricane Zeta has killed at least one person after a downed power line electrocuted a 55-year-old in Louisiana as the storm moved into Alabama overnight.
What's happening: After "battering southeastern Louisiana and southern Mississippi," it began lashing Alabama late Wednesday, per the National Hurricane Center.
Catholics go through containment protocols including body-temperature measurement and hands-sanitisation before entering the Saint Christopher Parish Church, Taipei City, Taiwan, in July. Photo: Ceng Shou Yi/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Taiwan on Thursday marked no locally transmitted coronavirus cases for 200 days, as the island of 23 million people's total number of infections reported stands at 550 and the COVID-19 death toll at seven.
Why it matters: Nowhere else in the world has reached such a milestone. While COVID-19 cases surge across the U.S. and Europe, Taiwan's last locally transmitted case was on April 12. Experts credit tightly regulated travel, early border closure, "rigorous contact tracing, technology-enforced quarantine and universal mask wearing," along with the island state's previous experience with the SARS virus, per Bloomberg.
Go deeper: As Taiwan's profile rises, so does risk of conflict with China
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios